National Register #84001183
Aquatic Park Historic District
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Built 1920-1945

Aquatic Park, developed from 1936 to 1939, was one of California's largest Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects reflecting President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's policy of providing employment to architects and artists during the Great Depression. The centerpiece of this group of "streamline moderne"
structures, all employing nautical metaphors, is a multipurpose structure containing the bathhouse, concession stand and lounge. Its rounded walls,
recessed upper stories, tubular steel railings and porthole windows were purposely designed to create the illusion of an ocean liner. Murals and
other artwork carry out the nautical theme. This main building, lifeguard stations, stadium, Sea Scout building, a seawall and a semicircular pier
form the Aquatic Park Historic District, now part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park....
National Register Statement of Significance for Aquatic Park

Aquatic Park and the Hyde Street Pier are contained within San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

President Franklin Roosevelt came into office during the worst depression the nation had ever known. Fulfilling a campaign promise to put people to
work, he instituted the New Deal to bring economic recovery to the depression-wrought country.

The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933 authorized the Public Works Administration (PWA) to provide jobs, stimulate business
activity, and increase purchasing power through the construction of permanent and socially useful public works. The Federal Government and
local city, county and state governments formed a working partnership resulting in the greatest single construction program in history.

PWA construction projects, in addition to providing employment for the skilled, generated a volume of jobs for the unskilled. The PWA
provided loans and grants up to forty percent of the total cost of the project to states, and many other public bodies, including
schools.

From 1933-1935, the PWA underwrote projects in 3,040 of the 3,073 counties in all forty-eight states. Of the 3.76 billion dollars of
the NIRA fund, 2.56 billion dollars was spent on 19,004 construction projects.

Narrative adapted in part from the NRHP nomination for Tulare Union High School Auditorium and Administration Building
dated 16 November 1999.

Many buildings funded by the PWA have been recognized for their historic significance and architectural excellence. Among them are:

Oval-shaped, four-story reinforced concrete Streamlined Moderne building with nautical lines representing a cruise ship such as the contemporary Normandie or Nieuw Amsterdam in abstract form. The stories of the building step inward to form decks. According to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which designed and constructed the building, it is "Like a huge ship at its dock...with rounded ends, set back upper stories, porthole windows and ship rails, its resemblance to a luxurious ocean liner is indeed startling." The building is flanked by large concrete stadia.

Concession Stand and restroom

Restroom

Speaker Towers

1938

Two 35-feet-high reinforced concrete speaker towers in were built at the same time as the other WPA projects for Aquatic Park. They reflect the international design of the other structures.

Sea Scout Building

1943

A wood frame, one-story structure built on pilings over the waters of the lagoon. A walkway connects it with land, near the entrance to the Municipal Pier. The building has a boat docking facility. The interior contains many small rooms that are used for storage, offices, classrooms, small boat, and spar repair facilities for the Sea Scout organization.

Lagoon

1941

The Aquatic Park lagoon occupies the site of the former Black Point Cove, which was partially filled in during the early 20th Century. As the former beach had been buried under tons of rubble and fill, the lagoon was supplied with a new sand each, with most of the sand coming from excavations in downtown San Francisco for the Union Square underground parking garage which was built in 1941.

Seawall

1937

Built of rubble faced with granite paving blocks from San Francisco streets. The blocks were removed during street modernization in the 20th Century.

Municipal Pier

1929

The reinforced concrete Municipal Pier is built on pilings over the seawall that shelters the Aquatic Park lagoon.

Bocce Ball Courts

1950

Built in the 1950s, the Bocce Ball courts are the most recent structural addition to Aquatic Park.